New life at CDC

I am now a communications specialist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I am a contractor, employed by Northrop Grumman, where I am classified as a Public Health Analyst. However, at CDC my title is Research Dissemination Specialist. I work in the Prevention Research Centers (PRC) Program, Division of Adult and Community Health (DACH), National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP). So, in governmentese, that’s PRC/DACH/NCCDPHP/CDC. You think your workplace is full of jargon and acronyms? You haven’t seen anything until you’ve worked in the federal government.

The PRC Program is a network of researchers hosted at 37 schools of medicine and public health across the the country. These researchers come up with ways to reduce and prevent chronic conditions and increase healthy behaviors. Communicable diseases like flu and food-borne illnesses like salmonella get lots of press, but chronic conditions like heart disease, obesity,  substance abuse, cancer, and high blood pressure disable and kill a whole lot more people in this country. In fact, chronic diseases are responsible for 70% of U.S. deaths. CDC funds the PRC researchers to find ways to reduce this burden and associated healthcare costs. I’m happy to be working in a program with such an important mission.

I produce print and audiovisual content describing the work of the PRC Program. My work may appear on the PRC website, in printed materials,  or in internal documents. My most interesting project so far has been a video overview of the program, which you can see here. I conceptualized, wrote, shot, and produced this piece. Most of the photos in the piece were either stock photos or from the PRC Program’s existing collection, but I shot all of the video. Acting as a one-woman-band for these shoots saved you, the taxpayer, a lot of money — production crews are expensive.

Other examples of my work on the PRC website are here and here. I am currently working on a feature story on cancer in Kentucky and the cancer control and prevention efforts at the University of Kentucky PRC. (Kentucky has the highest cancer rate in the United States.) I’m finishing up a video feature on EnhanceFitness, an exercise program developed by the University of Washington PRC for use by older adults but also proven effective for people with arthritis. Also, I’m shooting interviews with representatives of every PRC, and I hope excerpts will be placed on the PRC website soon.